Device for collecting and stacking masonry reinforcements and the like



B. M. FINGERUT 3,109,543 DEVICE FOR COLLECTING AND STACKING MASONRYREINFORCEMENTS AND THE LIKE Nov. 5, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 29,1961 w n U n (my \\//////////////-RFN\/// WIETW INVENTOR- BORIS M.FINGERUT ATTORNEY Nov. 5, 1963 B. M. FINGERUT DEVICE FOR COLLECTING ANDSTACKING MASONRY REINFORCEMENTS AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May291 1961 INVENTOR.

BORIS M. FINGERUT ATTORN EY 1953 B. M. FINGERUT DEVICE FOR COLLECTINGAND STACKING MASONRY REINFORCEMENTS AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FiledMay 29, 1961 INVENTOR BORIS M. FINGERUT ATTORN EY United States Patent M3,169,543 DEVICE FOR COLLECTING AND STACKING M1IA $E0NRY REINFURCEMENTSAN THE Ll Boris M. Fingernt, Lake Grove, Greg, assignor to Portland Wire& Iron Works, Portland, 0reg., a corporation of Oregon Filed May 29,1961, Ser. No. 113,279 Claims. (Cl. 214 -6) The present invention isconcerned with the handling and stacking of fabricated articles as theyare delivered one by one from a production source, and, moreparticularly, is concerned with a special type of masonry reinforcementas it is received from the machine in which it is fabricated. Thesemasonry reinforcements are manufactured in standard sizes several feetin length, and, in order that they may be conveniently arranged forimmediate shipment or storage as produced, it is desirable to have themarranged in uniform stacks of desired size so that the stacks can betied and handled as units.

Heretofore the placing of these reinforcements in desired stacks hascustomarily been done manually. An object of the present invention is toprovide a simple mechanical device which will collect and stack thereinforcements automatically as they are delivered consecutively fromthe machine in which they are fabricated.

The special masonry reinforcement for the handling of which the presentdevice has been particularly developed comprises a pair of mainlongitudinally-extending side rods or wires which are joined atregularintervals by transverse rods or wires which have their ends weldedrespectively on the two main longitudinal rods or wires. This type ofmasonry reinforcement and a machine recently developed for fabricatingthe same are described in my co-pending application executed under dateof April 10, 1961 and entitled Machine for Making Masonry Reinforcement.A plan view of such reinforcement is also shown in FIG. 1 of thedrawings herein.

Since with such reinforcement the transverse rods or wires are welded onthe top on the main longitudinal rods or wires, and thus do not extendin the same plane with the longitudinal rods or wires, it is desirable,when arranging such reinforcements in stacks for shipment or storage, toturn every alternate one in the stack upside down in order that thestack will be more compact and easier to handle and will take up lessspace. Another important object of the present invention accordingly isto provide an improved device for handling and stacking suchreinforcements which will cause the alternate reinforcements receivedfrom the fabricating machine to be turned over before being placed onthe stack, without necessitating any manual handling of thereinforcements while they are being arranged in desired stack form.

The manner in which these objects and other incidental advantages areattained with the device of the present invention, and the constructionand manner of operation of this device will be described briefly withreference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings;

FIG. 1 is fragmentary plan view of the particular masonry reinforcementfor which the device of the present invention is especially intended, aspreviously mentioned;

RIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation and FIG. 2A is a correspondingfragmentary end elevation of a stack of such reinforcements showing thereinforcements arranged as desired in the stack so as to make the stackas compact as possible;

FIG. 3 is a foreshortenedplan view of the device, showing, in brokenlines, one of the masonry reinforcements in the successive positionswhich it occupies in the device, and showing also the end of thefabricating ma- EJ0 9543 Patented Nov. 5, 1963 Id chine for thereinforcement which delivers the reinforcement onto the collecting andstacking device as the reinforcement is completed;

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3 drawn toa larger scale;

FIG. 4A is a similar sectional elevation taken on line 4A-4A of FIG. 3showing certain portions of the device moved out to their extendedposition from the position as illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section on line 55 of FIG. 3 drawn to the samescale as FIG. 4;

FIG. dis a fragmentary section on line 66 of FIG. 3 drawn to the samescale as FIG. 4, and also being taken on line 66 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional elevation on line 7-7 of FIG. 3 drawnto the same scale as FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional elevation taken on line S-8 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a partial wiring diagram.

In FIG. 1 the masonry reinforcement illustrated, and indicated as awhole by the reference character A, is composed of the two main sidewires 5, 5 which are connected at regular intervals by the transverseWires 6. The ends of the transverse wires are welded on the side wiresrespectively. When producing these reinforcements in any standard sizeit is customary to have them placed and bound together in stacks, andsince the transverse wires and the main side wires do not extend in thesame plane it is also customary, in stacking the reinforcements, to turnevery other one over so as to make each stack as compact as possible.FIGS/2 and 2A show such a portion of such stack arrangement, theindividual reinforcements being dicated at a, b, c, d, e, f, and g. Inthe device of the present invention the turning over of every otherarticle or reinforcement as it is delivered from the fabricatingmachine, as well as the stack of the articles or reinforcements, is doneautomatically as later explained.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the collecting and stacking deviceincludes a top deck 10 supported on a suitable rigid skeleton frame.Portions of the frame only are shown in the figures and are indicated byF. The deck 19 is preferably mounted at a height at least one inch lowerthan the deck of the fabricating machine from which the reinforcement isdelivered to allow the rear or cut end of the reinforcement to drop outof the way of the advancing or forward end of the next reinforcementformed on the machine. In FIG. 3 the discharging end of the machine 7 isindicated.

The deck 10 has a pair of transverse slots to accommodate a pair ofmovable slides 12 and 12'. A fence 11 extends on the deck along one sideso as to guide the reinforcement as it is received onto the deck, thefence 11 being interrupted at the slides 12 and 12'. Each of the slides12 and 12' carries a finger 16 which is in alignment with the fence 11when the slide is in the retracted position (such position of each slidebeing shown in full lines in FIG. 3). These fingers 15 move thereinforcement out from the deck 10 (to the right as viewed in FIGS. 3and 4) when the slides 12 and 12' are moved to the extended positionsindicated in broken lines.

The slides 12 and 12' are secured to piston rods respectively of a pairof air pistons mounted in the air cyl inders 13, 13', one of thesecylinders being shown at 13' in FIG. 4. Another air cylinder 15 or 15'is carried by each of the slides 12 and 12, being positioned below theend of the slide, and each of the cylinders 15 or 15' opcrates a plunger14 or 14' which, in raised position, acts as a guide for the oppositeside of the reinforcement. Thus when the reinforcement is delivered ontothe deck lil it extends along between the fingers 16 and the raisedplungers 14 and 14 of the slides 12 and 12', as indicated 12 and 12'then move to their extended positions, they move the reinforcement withthem to the position indicated by the broken lines A2 in FIG. 3.

Another cylinder 17 (FIG. 3), located at the far end of the deck 10,operates a supporting bar 18 which acts to support the far end of thereinforcement when the reinforcement is moved laterally by the slides 12and 12'.

When the slides 12 and 12. and the bar 18 move out to their extendedpositions (as indicated in broken lines inFIGS. 3 and 4), and thus movethe reinforcement laterally to the position of A2 (FIG. 3), the twoplungers 14 and 14 in the ends of the two slides are dropped down toretracted position. Then the slides 12 and 12' and the bar 18 returnquickly to their retracted positions, slipping from under the movedreinforcement A2, which causes the reinforcement to drop down ontosupporting elements positioned at a lower level in the device and laterdescribed. The slides 12 and 12 and the bar 18 are not retractedsimultaneously but the bar 18 and the slide 12' are retracted first,causing the far end of the reinforcement to drop first, whereupon theslide 12 is retracted and the dropping of :the reinforcement iscompleted. Each reinforcement as it is dropped from the upper level tothe lower level in the device forms part of a desired stack on the lowerlevel. However the alternate reinforcements received from thefabricating machine are turned over prior to being dropped to the lowerlevel. The reason for this has already been explained, and the means bywhich such alternate reinforcements are automatically turned over willnow be described.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 6 and 7, a housing 50 is mounted on the endportion of the main frame F of the device in the location indicated inFIG. 3. A gear 53- (FIG. 7)

has an integral sleeve portion 53' which is rotatably supported in abearing 56" in the housing 50. The axis of the gear 53, sleeve 53" andsupporting bearing 50' is substantially in horizontal alignment with thelaterally moved reinforcement A2. A head 54 is carried on the outer endof the sleeve 53 normally spaced a slight distance from the outside ofthe housing 50. A pair of ears 55 extend forwardly from opposite sidesof the head 40'. Pairs of hinged links 56 (see also FIG. 6) connect theears 55 with a pair of brackets 57 which are secured respectively to apair of identical flipper frames 58, the shape of one of these flipperframes being shown in FIG. 6.

A plunger rod 60 (FIG. 7) is slidably mounted in the gear 53 and in thesleeve 53', being co-axial therewith, and is slidable in the walls ofthe housing 50 and in the head 54. The'plunger rod 60 is connected to apiston within the air cylinder 59, the cylinder being supported on therear wall of the housing 50. The delivery of compressed air into thecylinder 59*, causing the spring-controlled piston and plunger rod 60temporarily to be moved to the left (as viewed in FIG. 7) is controlledby a solenoid which is actuated periodically and automatically by acam-operated switch mentioned later. A plate 61 (see also FIG. 6) issecured on the outer end of the plunger rod 30. The plate 61 carries anupper and lower pair of ears 62 in which the upper and lower flipperframes '8 are rotatable.

From FIG. 7 it will now be apparent that, when the plunger rod 60 andplate 61 are moved to the left (as viewed in this figure) from theirnormal full line position, the two flipper frames 58 will be swungtowards each other from their normal vertical position and will bebrought into contact with opposite faces of a reinforcement A2 which hasbeen moved out laterally in the device.

When the plate 61 is moved inwardly (to the left) by the plunger rod 60(FIG. 7) the plate 61 engages the head 54 of the sleeve 53' and causesthe head 54 and sleeve 53', and therewith the gear 53, also to be moveda slight distance to the left against the force of the interposed spring63.

This sliding movement of the gear 53 to the left releases a springcontact element 64' on a micro switch 64 which causes temporaryactuation of a motor 51. The motor 51, through the medium of a suitable.gear reduction,

operates a gear 52 which meshes with the gear 53. The 7 resultingrotation of gear 53, and therewith of the head 54, rotates the flip-perframes 58 and the reinforcement A2 which the flipper frames have grippedbetween them. The gear 53 rotates each time and then stops.

A pair of fingers 65 are mounted on the gear 53 at diametricallyopposite points (see FIGS. 7 and 8). These fingers are so arranged as toengage a spring-loaded arm 66' of a cam element 66 which opens anormally closed switch '67. The switch 67, when opened, acts todisconmeet the circuit to the motor, as later explained. At the sametime the air exhausts from the cylinder 59, causing the spring-actuatedpiston and the plunger rod 60, and therewith the plate 61, flipperframes 58, and gear 53 to return to normal position.

The delivery of air to the cylinder 59 for operating the plunger rod 60is automatically controlled so that this takes place with the deliveryof alternate reinforcements to the device. In other words, onlyalternate reinforcements are engaged and turned by the flipper frames58. When such alternate reinforcements are delivered, the turning of thereinforcement by the flipper frames occurs immediately after the rod 18and slide 12' are retracted and 'before the slide 12 is retracted, sothat one end of the reinforcement still rests on the slide 12 while theopposite or far end of the reinforcement is being handled by the flipperframes.

A pair of side stationary stops 19' (FIGS. 3 and 4) extend downwardly ashort distance adjacent the ends of the slides 12 and 12 when these arein extended position and serve as guides and guards for the outside edgeof the reinforcement as it is being dropped and/ or turned. 'Ihese stopsare supported by top frame members (not shown).

A lower sliding frame, composed of a pair of parallel slide bars 20(FIG. 3) connected by a cross bar 20, and also connected at their innerends (not shown), is mounted in the device for receiving thereinforcements as they are dropped from the top level. The slide bars 20are slidably mountedon pairs of wheels 22. which are carried on mainframe members (FIGS. 3, 4 and 4A). A plate 25-, secured to the cross bar20', is connected by a connecting rod 24 with a crank 26 secured on ashaft driven from a motor 'M through suitable gear reduction. Thus, asthe crank 26 revolves the slide bars 20 are moved from the retractedfull line position out to the broken line position shown in FIG. 3 andthen back to retracted position.

A pair of air cylinders 35 are supported from the cross bar 20. Theseair cylinders operate the plungers 36 (FIG. 4) which are thrust up toraised position when the slide bars 24} are retracted, and thus provideguides for'the outer side edge of the reinforcements as they are placedin the stack on the slide bars 20. A pair of upright legs 37, one ofwhich is shown in FIG. 4, are secured on the slide bars 20 near theirinner ends and are spaced inwardly from the plungers 36 a distanceslightly greater than the width of the reinforcements, and thus theselegs provide guides for the inner side edges of the reinforcements asthey are stacked, as indicated in FIG. 4.

When the predetermined number of reinforcements have been stacked on theslide bars 20 these bars move to outward position, through the operationof the motor M as previously explained, and move the stack ofreinforcements to the outer position indicated on the right in FIG. 4 asA3. When the slide bars 20 are moved outwardly the plungers 36 aredropped by their cylinders 35 in lowered out-of-the-Way position.

A pair of stationary air cylinders 38 are supported from lower mainframe members. Vertical piston rods 39, operated by the cylinders 38,carry U-shaped holders 40 (FIGS. 4 and 4A). When the slide bars 20 aremoved to their outward position, carrying the stack of reinforcementswith them to the position indicated at A3, the piston rods 39 and theU-shaped holders are raised, as shown best in FIG. 4A, the U-shapedholders sliding up lO-VEI the outer main side wires of thereinforcements in the stack A3. These U-shaped holders then hold thereinforcements firmly in place in the stack, and, while they are soheld, the operator can tie cords or wires around the stack, or placeother binding means on the stack since the stack has now been completed.When the U-shaped holders 40 have gripped the stack the slide bars 26}move back to retracted position to receive the reinforcements for thenext stack. Delivery of air under pressure into the cylinders 38 iscontrolled through a solenoid valve (not shown) which is actuated by aspring-controlled switch 4-3 (FIGS. 4 and 4A) which is opened when aswitch element is engaged by a rotating cam 44 secured on the shaftcarrying the crank 26. The cylinders 38 are double acting and thearrangement is such that the pistons in the cylinders 38 move to lowerposition when the slide bars 2% start moving outwardly, and the pistonsare raised when the slide bars 24 have reached their outward positionthus causing the U-shaped holders 4% to be raised, and these holdersremain raised while the slide bars 20' move back to retracted position.

A second sliding frame is similarly composed of a pair of parallel slidebars 21 (FIG. 3) connected by a cross bar 21 and joined at their innerends (not shown). The pair of slide bars 21 are located adjacent theslide bars 20 respectively, and pairs of wheels 23 carried by the bars2e, support the slide bars 21 and thus enable the second sliding frameto have sliding motion with respect to the first sliding frame. Whenboth frames are in retracted position the ends of the slide bars 21 areflush with the slide bars 29, as shown in FIG. 3, but when the slidingframe with the bars 20 moves to outward position the sliding frame withthe slide bars 21 moves outwardly considerably further than the framewith the slide bars 20, as show-n by the broken lines in FIG. 3, and theoutward movement of the sliding frame with the bars 21 occurs twice asfast as the movement of the sliding frame with the slide bars 20. Themanner in which this takes place will now be described.

A sprocket wheel 30 (FIGS. 3, 4 and 4A) is rotatably supported on theplate 25. A sprocket chain 27 has one end anchored to the main frame ofthe device at 28. The other end of this chain is secured to the rear ofthe sliding frame having the slide bars 21. Consequently when the framecontaining the slide bars 20 and the plate 25 is moved outwardly by theconnecting rod 24 and crank 26, the frame with the slide bars 21 willmove out twice as fast.

A second sprocket wheel 33 (FIG. 3) is also mounted on the plate 25. Asecond sprocket chain 31, having one end anchored to a stationary outerframe member at 32, has its other end attached, through the medium ofthe spring 34, to a cross bar 21' of the frame with the slide bars 21.Thus when the frame with the slide bars 20 and the plate 25 are movedback to retracted position, the frame with the slide bars 21 issimilarly moved back twice as fast to retracted position.

The two sliding frames, thus the frame with the slide bars 21 and theframe with the slide bars 21, move back to retracted position when thestack of reinforcements (in the position indicated by A3) is engaged bythe raised U-shaped holders 40, the holders 40" preventing the stackfrom moving back with the slide bars 20 and 21. The sliding framesremain in their normal retracted position while a second stack ofreinforcements is being collected; During this interval the operator hastime to tie the first stack as it is held in outer position. Then, whenthe second stack is completed and the frames with the slide bars 20 and21 again start moving outwardly, the piston rods 39, and therewith theU-shaped holders ll),

are lowered to enable the first stack to move on out of the way of thesecond stack.

A pair of air cylinders 41 (FIGS. 3, 4 and 4A) are carried by the slidebars 21 and are located in the relative position shown in FIG. 3.Plungers 42 are operated by these cylinders 41 and these plungers areraised whenever the slide bars 21 start moving outwardly and are loweredwhen the slide bars start to return to retracted position.

Thus when the pairs of slide bars start moving outwardly and the secondstack of reinforcements is ready, the lowering of the holders 40 and theraising of the plungers 42 will cause the first stack now to be movedstill further outwardly with the slide bars 2 1 to the final positionindicated at A4- in FIGS. 3 and 4A. In this final location the stack ismoved into position for transfer onto a suitable chute or suitableconveying means (indicated in part at C in FIG. 3) through which thefirst stack is now conveyed to a desired location for shipment orstorage.

A stationary double-acting switch 45 (FIGS. 4 and 4A) is mounted on themain frame of the device and is so arranged as to be operated in onedirection by engagement with an arm 46' carried by the lower slidingframe with the bars 20, when the sliding frames are in retractedposition and to be operated in the opposite direction by engagement byan arm 46 carried by the same sliding frame when the sliding frames arein extended position. The switch 45 actuates solenoid-controlled valvesfor the cylinders 35 (which operate the plungers 3'5) and for thecylinders 41 (which operate the lungers 42). The solenoid-controlledvflves for the cylinders 35 and 41 are so arranged that the plungers seand 42 will be raised when the switch 45 is moved in one direction bythe arrival of the sliding frames to retracted position and will belowered as soon as the sliding frames arrive at their extended position.Thus the p-lungers 36 and 42 are raised when the frames arrive at theirretracted position and remain raised throughout the time thereinforcements are being stacked and also while both sliding frames aremoving to outward position, and the plungers 36 and 42 are lowered whenthe frames reach outward position and remain lowered while the framesmove back to retracted position.

The manner in which the operation of the device is automaticallycontrolled in synchronism with the delivery of reinforcements from thefabricating machine will now be briefly explained with reference to FIG.9. A series of rotating switch-actuating earns 71, 72, 73 and 74, areoperated by connections with a shaft 71 (FIG. 3) which is driven throughsuitable gear connection, indicated at 69, from the main operating motor(not shown) of the fabricating machine 7.

The earns 71 and 72 (FIG. 9) are so arranged that each rotation willcorrespond to the delivery of a fabricated reinforcement from themachine 7. The cam 73 is so arranged that it will rotate only onceduring the delivery of two consecutive reinforcements from thefabricating machine 7, and the cam 74 is so arranged that only onerotation of this cam will take place during the delivery of apredetermined number of reinforcements, the number corresponding to thenumber desired for each completed stack of reinforcements.

The rotation of cam 71 causes temporary closing of a switch 71' upon thedelivery of each reinforcement on the deck of the device. The closing ofswitch 71 activates solenoid valves, indicated at 7 7, for the cylinder13 which operates the first slide 12, and the cylinder 15 on the end ofslide 12 which operates the plunger M on the slide 12. Similarly therotation of the companion cam 72 temporarily closes the switch 72 whichcauses activation of solenoid valves, indicated at 78, which operate thecylinder 13' for the slide 12' and the cylinder E5 on the end of slide12' for the plunger 14. Closing of switch 72' also activates a solenoidvalve, indicated at 79, for the cylinder 17 for the slide bar 18 (FIG.3). The cams 71 and 72 are so shaped and arranged that the slide bars12, 12 and 18 will be moved outwardly simultaneously but the slide bar12 will remain out in extended position slightly longer .than the bars12' and 18, as previously mentioned.

The rotation of cam 73, which occurs once with the delivery of every tworeinforcements, instead of with the delivery of each reinforcement,temporarily closes switch 7 3 which activates the solenoid valve,indicated at 80, for operating the cylinder 59 (FIG. 7). As previouslyexplained, the delivery of air under pressure into cylinder 59 causesmovement of the flipper frames 58 into engagement with thereinforcement, and closes switch 64 (PEG. 7) so as to cause operation ofthe motor 51. Upon operation of the motor 51, which results in rotationof the flipper frames 58 and gears 65, the spring-operated switch 67 isimmediately allowed to close and remains closed, acting as a holdingcircuit switch, until the flipper frames 58 and gears 65 have rotated180, whereupon switch 67 is again opened.

The rotation of cam 74, which, as previously mentioned, occurs onceduring the delivery of predetermined number of reinforcements on thedevice, temporarily closes switch 74 which causes operation of the motorM and results in movement of the sliding frames to extended positionsand then back to retracted position. Cam 44, rotated by the motor M,engages the switch 43 when the sliding frames are moving to outwardposition and causes the switch 43 to open against the force of itsspring. 'The opening and closing of switch 43, through the intermediaryof. the solenoid valve, indicated at 81, operates the double actingcylinders 38 in such manner that the holders 40 are dropped when thesliding frames are moving 'outward and are raised when the frames reachoutward position and remain raised while the sliding frames return toretracted position. The spring-operated switch 68 acts as a holdingcircuit switch for the motor M, causing the motor to continue operatinguntil the sliding frames have been returned to retracted position atwhich time a finger 68, carried by the plate 25, opens the switch 68 andthus stops the motor M until the cam switch 74 is again closed, theclosing of the cam switch 7 4 occurring again after a furtherpredetermined number of reinforcements have been delivered, aspreviously mentioned.

The double acting mechanical switch 45, by activatingsolenoid-controlled valves, indicated at 82, causes operation of thecylinders 35 (for the plungers 36) and of the cylinders 41 (for theplungers 42) as previously described.

Thus the operation of the entire device, the moving of each receivedreinforcement out from the deck 10, the dropping of the reinforcement soas to form a desired stack, with the turning over of every alternatereinforcevment, and the movement of the stack to the subsequentpositions until final disposal of the stack, take place automatically insynchronism with the delivery of the reinforcements from the fabricatingmachine.

Although the invention has been described as employed in the handlingand stacking of the special type of masonry reinforcement mentioned, itis to be understood that the invention is not intended to be restrictedto use exclusively with such articles inasmuch as the invention may alsobe employed obviously for other articles of an elongated rectangularshape which may require similar handling and stacking.

I claim:

1. In a collecting and stacking device of the character described forfabricated articles as delivered separately from a fabricating machine,an upper receiving deck, guide means on said deck for guiding one sideof the article as delivered onto said deck, a pair of substantiallyparallel, transversely movable slides in said deck, an engaging memberon each slide for engaging the side of the article positioned along saidguide means, means for moving each slide and therewith the article onsaid slide to extended position beyond the side of said deck oppositesaid guide means and for subsequently returning each side to normalretracted position, a flipper assembly located at the far end of saiddevice, said assembly including a pair of flipper'frames extending in asingle transverse vertical plane when in normal inoperative position,said frames mounted on a supporting head on horizontal hinge axes, saidhead rotatably supported on a horizontal axis substantially in alignmentwith the article on the device When said article has been movedlater-ally beyond said deck by said slides, means for swinging saidflipper frames forwardly in opposite directions towards each other so asto cause said flip per frames to engage upper and lower facesrespectively of the article on said slides, related means for causing180 rotation of said head and therewith of said flipper frames when saidflipper frames are in engagement with an article moved laterally fromsaid deck, control means operating said flipper assembly with thebringing of each alternate article into extended position by saidslides, a lower slide assembly movable in a horizontal plane andpositioned to receive each article dropped from said first mentionedslides and from said flipper ifr-ames, guides for causing the articlesdropped onto said lower slide assem bly to be positioned in stackformation, means for moving said lower slide assembly and therewith thestack of articles on said lower slide assembly into outer position whena predetermined number of articles have been accumulated in the stackand for subsequently returning said slide assembly to normal retractedposition, stack holding elements for temporarily holding said stackstationary in said outer position while said lower slide assemblyreturns to retracted position, and operating means for said stackholding elements.

2. In a collecting and stacking device for masonry reinforcements asdelivered sepanately from a fabricating machine, an upper receivingdeck, guide means on said deck for guiding one side of the reinforcementas delivered onto said deck, a pair of substantially parallel,transversely movable slides in said deck, an engaging member on eachslide for engaging the side of the masonry reinforcement positionedalong said guide means, means for moving each slide and therewith thereinforcement on said deck to extended position beyond the side of saiddeck opposite said guide means and for subsequently returning each slideto normal retracted position, a lower slide assembly movable in ahorizontal plane and positioned to receive each reinforcement droppedfrom said first mentioned slides, guides for causing the reinforcementsdropped onto said lower slide assembly to be positioned in stackformation, means for moving said lower slide assembly and therewith thestack of reinforcements on said lower slide assembly into outer positionwhen a predetermined number of reinforcements have been accumulated inthe stack and for subsequently returning said assembly to normalretracted postion, stack holding elements for temporarily holding saidstack stationary in said outer position, means for raising said stackholding elements when said lower slide assembly is in outer position andfor lowering said elements when said slide assembly is in retractedposition, a second slide assembly slidable in the same plane with saidlower slide assembly, the outer ends of said lower side assembly 'andsaid second slide assembly being in substantial registration with eachother when said lower slide assembly and said second slide assembly arein fully retracted position, means operated by the moving means for saidlower slide assembly for moving said second slide assemblysimultaneously with said lower slide assembly but twice as far as saidlower slide assembly, stack engaging members on said second slideassembly for moving the stack into final discharging position, and meansfor moving said last mentioned members into operative'position with theoutward movement of said second slide assembly.

3. In a collecting and stacking device for masonry reinforcements asdelivered separately from a fabricating machine, an upper receivingdeck, guide means on said deck for guiding one side of the reinforcementas delivered onto said deck, a pair of substantially parallel,transversely movable slides in said deck, an engaging member on eachslide for engaging the side of the masonry reinforcement positionedalong said guide means, a retractable plunger on each slide for guidingthe opposite side of said reinforcement, means for moving each slide andtherewith the reinforcement on said deck to extended position beyond theside of said deck opposite said guide means and for subsequentlyreturning each slide to normal retracted position, means for retracting,said plungers as said slides reach extended position, a lower slideassembly movable in a horizontal plane and positioned to receive eachreinforcement dropped from said first mentioned slides, guides forcausing the reinforcements dropped onto said lower slide assembly to bepositioned in stack formation, means for moving said lower slideassembly and therewith the stack of reinforcements on said lower slideassembly into outer position when a predetermined number ofreinforcements have been accumulated in the stack and for subsequentlyreturning said assembly to normal retracted position, stack holdingelements for temporarily holding said stack stationary in said outerposition, means for raising said stack holding elements when said lowerslide assembly is in outer position and for lowering said elements whensaid lower slide assembly is in retracted position, a second slideassembly carried by said lower slide assembly and slidable in the sameplane with said lower slide assembly, means operated by the moving meansfor said lower slide assembly for moving said second slide assembly andso arranged that said second slide assembly will be moved simultaneouslywith said lower slide assembly but at greater speed than said lowerslide assembly, stack engaging members on said second slide assembly formoving the stack into final discharging position, and means for movingsaid last mentioned members into operative position with the outwardmovement of said second slide assembly.

4. In a collecting and stacking device for masonry reinforcements asdelivered separately from a fabricating machine, an upper receivingdeck, guide means on said deck for guiding one side of the reinforcementas delivered onto said deck, a pair of transversely movable slides insaid deck, an engaging member on each slide for engaging the side of themasonry reinforcement positioned along said guide means, means formoving each slide and therewith the reinforcement on said deck toextended position beyond the side of said deck opposite said guide meansand for subsequently returning each slide to normal retracted position,a flipper assembly located at the far end of said device, said assemblyincluding a pair of flipper frames extending in a single transversevertical plane when in normal inoperative position, said frames mountedon a supporting head on horizontal hinge axes, said head rotatablysupported on a horizontal axis substantially in alignment with thereinforcement on the device when said reinforcement has been movedlaterally beyond said deck by said slides, means for swinging saidflipper frames forwardly in opposite directions towards each other so asto cause said flipper frames to engage upper and lower facesrespectively of the reinforcement on said slides, related means forcausing rotation of said head and therewith of said flipper frames whensaid flipper frames are in engagement with a reinforcement, controlmeans operating said flipper assembly with the bringing of eachalternate reinforcement into position beyond the side of said deck, alower slide assembly movable in a horizontal plane and positioned toreceive each reinforcement dropped from said first mentioned slides andfrom said flipper frames, guides for causing the reinforcements droppedonto said lower slide assembly to be positioned in stack formation,means for moving said lower slide assembly and therewith the stack ofreinforcements on said lower slide assembly into outer position when apredetermined number of reinforcements have been accumulated in thestack and for subsequently returning said assembly to normal retractedposition, stack holding elements for temporarily holding said stackstationary in said outer position, means for raising said stack holdingelements when said lower slide assembly is in outer position and forlowering said elements when said lower slide assembly is in retractedposition, a second slide assembly slidable in the same plane with saidlower slide assembly, means operated by the moving means for said lowerslide assembly for moving said second slide assembly and so arrangedthat said second slide assembly will be moved simultaneously with saidlower slide assembly but at twice the speed of said lower slideassembly, stack engaging members on said second slide assembly formoving the stack into final discharging position, and means for movingsaid last mentioned members into operative position with the outwardmovement of said second slide assembly.

5. The combination set forth in claim 4, with said means for moving saidslides, said control means operating said flipper assembly, said meansfor moving said lower slide assembly, and said means for raising andlowering said stack holding elements automatically regulated by thedelivery of the masonry reinforcements onto the device from thefabricating machine.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,141,600 Baker June 1, 1915 1,462,510 Lister July 24, 1923 2,234,991Todhunter Mar. 18, 1941 2,470,795 Socke May 24, 1949 2,559,369 PhillipsJuly 3, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 740,297 Great Britain Nov. 9, 1955

1. IN A COLLECTING AND STACKING DEVICE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED FORFABRICATED ARTICLES AS DELIVERED SEPARATELY FROM A FABRICATING MACHINE,AN UPPER RECEIVING DECK, GUIDE MEANS ON SAID DECK FOR GUIDING ONE SIDEOF THE ARTICLE AS DELIVERED ONTO SAID DECK, A PAIR OF SUBSTANTIALLYPARALLEL, TRANSVERSELY MOVABLE SLIDES IN SAID DECK, AN ENGAGING MEMBERON EACH SLIDE FOR ENGAGING THE SIDE OF THE ARTICLE POSITIONED ALONG SAIDGUIDE MEANS, MEANS FOR MOVING EACH SLIDE AND THEREWITH THE ARTICLE ONSAID SLIDE TO EXTENDED POSITION BEYOND THE SIDE OF SAID DECK OPPOSITESAID GUIDE MEANS AND FOR SUBSEQUENTLY RETURNING EACH SIDE TO NORMALRETRACTED POSITION, A FLIPPER ASSEMBLY LOCATED AT THE FAR END OF SAIDDEVICE, SAID ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A PAIR OF FLIPPER FRAMES EXTENDING IN ASINGLE TRANSVERSE VERTICAL PLANE WHEN IN NORMAL INOPERATIVE POSITION,SAID FRAME MOUNTED ON A SUPPORTING HEAD ON HORIZONTAL HINGE AXES, SAIDHEAD ROTATABLY SUPPORTED ON A HORIZONTAL AXIS SUBSTANTIALLY IN ALIGNMENTWITH THE ARTICLE ON THE DEVICE WHEN SAID ARTICLE HAS BEEN MOVEDLATERALLY BEYOND SAID DECK BY SAID SLIDES, MEANS FOR SWINGING SAIDFLIPPER FRAMES FORWARDLY IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS TOWARDS EACH OTHER SO ASTO CAUSE SAID FLIPPER FRAMES TO ENGAGE UPPER AND LOWER FACESRESPECTIVELY OF THE ARTICLE ON SAID SLIDES, RELATED MEANS FOR CAUSING180* ROTATION OF SAID HEAD AND THEREWITH OF SAID FLIPPER FRAMES WHENSAID FLIPPER FRAMES ARE IN ENGAGEMENT WITH AN ARTICLE MOVED LATERALLYFROM SAID DECK, CONTROL MEANS OPERATING SAID FLIPPER ASSEMBLY WITH THEBRINGING OF EACH ALTERNATE ARTICLE INTO EXTENDED POSITION BY SAIDSLIDES, A LOWER SLIDE ASSEMBLY MOVABLE IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE ANDPOSITIONED TO RECEIVE EACH ARTICLE DROPPED FROM SAID FIRST MENTIONEDSLIDES AND FROM SAID FLIPPER FRAMES, GUIDES FOR CAUSING THE ARTICLESDROPPED ONTO SAID LOWER SLIDE ASSEMBLY TO BE POSITIONED IN STACKFORMATION, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID LOWER SLIDE ASSEMBLY AND THEREWITH THESTACK OF ARTICLES ON SAID LOWER SLIDE ASSEMBLY INTO OUTER POSITION WHENA PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF ARTICLES HAVE BEEN ACCUMULATED IN THE STACKAND FOR SUBSEQUENTLY RETURNING SAID SLIDE ASSEMBLY TO NORMAL RETRACTEDPOSITION, STACK HOLDING ELEMENTS FOR TEMPORARILY HOLDING SAID STACKSTATIONARY IN SAID OUTER POSITION WHILE SAID LOWER SLIDE ASSEMBLYRETURNS TO RETRACTED POSITION, AND OPERATING MEANS FOR SAID STACKHOLDING ELEMENTS.